Want Some Advice?
by Reality Rejection Service
Summary: Sequel To Friends Who Ship Friends. AU. Bolin wants to help out Mako with his girl problem. So, naturally, he turns to a wise old man named Anakin.
**A/N: I do not own _Star Wars._ Or _Avatar: The Legend of Korra_. (Man, I do seem to like using Anakin Skywalker in my fics, huh?)**

* * *

 **Want Some Advice?**

Bolin was sick and tired of this crap.

Now, Bolin often came across as something of a bumbling idiot. Between himself, his older brother Mako, and their teammate Korra, Bolin was the funny guy. He was generally a happy guy.

Except for this one area. See, Mako was a great guy, and a better brother few could find.

But, everyone has a weakness. Bolin's was food. Korra's was too much energy, not enough brains.

Mako's was girls. And, to make matters worse, there were _two of them_. One was Korra, who was the _Avatar_. The other was Asami Sato.

Yes, that Asami Sato. The heiress to the biggest corporation in the world. Loaded. Beautiful. Kind.

And _that_ was the problem. Mako was caught in the middle between two young, beautiful, powerful women- and whichever one was his girlfriend changed as surely as the cycle of the moon.

Bolin would understand if Mako was a player type- but that was it; Mako was _not_ a player by any means. This uncharacteristically _frustrated_ the normally happy Bolin.

So, Bolin resolved to break up this triangle, and (hopefully) get Mako to choose one or the other. But he had _zero_ experience with girls.

He needed help, which was why he was in a diner… somewhere. There were a great many people who were human (and a great many who were _obviously not_ ), so Bolin sat down next to the closest human.

Said man was nursing a cup of coffee. It wasn't hard to tell that this man had seen some rough stuff in his life; Bolin could see the hardened face with wrinkles around the eyes, the somewhat short brown-blond hair (with streaks of gray), and the thin scar over the right eye.

A blond waitress (Wait… hair came in gold? How?) appeared, the name "Harleen" on her nametag. "What'll it be, suga?" she said sweetly.

"Ummm…" Bolin said, caught off guard, He hadn't had time to look at the menu.

"This place makes excellent custard tarts," the soldier-man said.

"Okay…" Bolin said, "I'll do one of those, and some jasmine tea, please."

"Comin' right up!"

"So… first time here?" the stranger asked.

"Yeah…." Bolin said.

"You look a little down. What troubles you?"

"My brother Mako. I'm Bolin, by the way."

"Anakin Skywalker. Now, what about Mako troubles you, Bolin?"

"First off, I want to say that Mako's a great guy. He's looked out for me when we lived on the streets."

"Orphans?"

"Yeah… how did you know?"

"I guessed," Anakin shrugged. "Anyway…."

"Oh, right. Well, you see, Mako really likes these two girls. One's the Avatar, and the other one is loaded."

"I see. That can cause… _problems_ , if one is not careful."

"Mako's not careful."

Bolin's order arrived as Anakin spoke. "Ah. Well, coming from a man who just dealt with a seemingly similar scenario, I think I can help."

"What happened?"

"Well…." Anakin said, his face somehow looking apologetic and _not at all sorry_ at the same time. "It all started when…."

* * *

 _Anakin was in a bind._

 _His lovely daughter, Leia, had just turned twenty-one. She reminded Anakin so much of her mother._

 _Which was a shame, since that meant that there was no shortage of "men" who wanted her hand. One of these was Han Solo, a young, dashing Captain in the Republic Navy. He was a bit of a scoundrel, but a better pilot Anakin couldn't find, because he'd trained Solo himself._

 _Solo's one drawback (in most other people's eyes) was Solo's ship. While the young man commanded a Star Destroyer, his family's old shipping vessel, the_ Millennium Falcon _, permanently occupied a berth in the hangar. The ship had been passed down through the generations, and Han was unwilling to part with it._

 _However, Solo was not the only competition. Prince Isolder, of the Hapes Consortium, was also actively trying to woo Leia. He was heir to the Hapes Cluster, a massive collection of worlds that were vital to the region. A union between Isolder and the daughter of the current Supreme Chancellor would be beneficial to both sides._

 _If Isolder wasn't a total buffoon, to put it_ very _lightly. He was…. not very bright. So, Anakin resolved to test Isolder's mind. In his opinion, someone who Anakin couldn't Jedi Mind-Trick into doing twenty push-ups was someone he would allow near his kids._

" _You will do twenty push-ups," Anakin commanded, putting the Force behind his words._

" _I will do twenty push-ups," Isolder repeated blankly, before doing just that._

Great, _Anakin thought._ Golden Boy's an idiot, too.

 _Suffice it to say, Anakin sabotaged the proposed union. He almost started a war with Hapes in the process, but the Chancellor had been able to smooth things over by sweetly threatening to publicly (and personally) castrate Isolder (using Anakin's lightsaber) if he was unfaithful to her daughter._

 _Hapes respectfully bowed out, realizing that the odds were against them if they were to anger The Hero With No Fear._

* * *

Bolin was shaking in barely suppressed laughter by the time Anakin was done.

"That… that was too funny, sir," the kid said, once he'd finally calmed down enough to speak.

"It was," Anakin smirked. "My wife, who is a master at diplomacy and politics, who would normally…. _chastise_ …. me when I do something as reckless and stupid such as this, actually agreed with me on the matter, so I went ahead and did it. She'd probably slap your brother silly for unintentionally playing two powerful young ladies like that.

"Might I have a word with Mako? I'm told I'm quite…. _intimidating…._ when I want to be."

"Sure! Wait…." Bolin said, thinking (which was scary, because _Bolin was thinking_ ). "Did we just bond over breaking up relationships?"

Anakin turned thoughtful, too. "I do believe that we did. I must say, I've made friends in weirder ways. A long time ago, two people helped me play matchmaker for my best friend, and I helped them in return." Anakin raised his mug of caff. "To friends who break up couples?"

Bolin raised his mug. "Hear, hear!"

* * *

Anakin returned with Bolin. He was able to avoid some serious culture shock because (a) he was on a mission, and (b) Anakin had been to scores of worlds with diverse cultures.

However, this… Bending, as it was called, reminded Anakin very much of using the Force, except…. more potent, it seemed. Anakin made a note to come back later and study it.

Bolin told Anakin more about Korra and Asami as they walked through Republic City.

Asami reminded Anakin a lot of Padme; caring kind, gentle, but utterly fearless in battle.

Korra, however, reminded Anakin of Ahsoka; energetic, not taking crap from anyone.

At long last, they reached the big, gold stadium.

 _Geez, ostentatious, much?_

Eventually, they found Mako in the practice ring, flames flowing from his fists.

Anakin was… unimpressed.

 _Twerp._

Bolin wisely bowed out.

* * *

Mako had yet to notice.

"You must be Mako."

"You a friend of Bolin's?"

"Yes. He told me a lot about you. He looks up to you."

"And….? Out with it, already."

 _Hmm… rather impatient._ "He's also… concerned about your friends, and how you _treat_ them. Having heard the story, I want to know _why_."

 _Oh, monkeyfeathers_. "I just… I don't…. I don't know… what I want, you know? They're both good people, but…"

Anakin nodded. _Don't punch the poor boy yet; Force knows Obi-Wan wanted to punch **you** many a time. _"I understand. I aimed rather high myself. But may I offer some advice?"

"Sure. I could use some."

"You strike me as someone who is guarded, who lets few people in to see the real you. Deep down, you care, even if you don't quite know how to show it. You may not see, at first, where you went wrong, but when you do, you try hard to make things right. Am I right?"

"You are. You must be a father."

Anakin nodded. "Twins. It was worth it. Anyway, find someone, then, who goes out and enjoys life, who isn't afraid to call you out when you're wrong, who makes friends easily. Find someone like that."

"That's the problem… they're both like that."

 _Shavit._ "Well… which one would be more direct in calling you out when you need it?"

Mako chuckled. "That's easy- Korra."

"There you go, Mako. Tell me- are you going out with either of them right now?"

"Actually…" Mako blushed. "I'm going to see a mover tonight with Korra. Not sure if everyone will be there, but… we'll see."

"I hope it works out. By the way- when things get tough, and they will- don't break up with her. That's called playing with fire. I would not be who I am today if my wife was afraid to say 'hey idiot, you're wrong' every once in a while."

"Thank you, sir. I didn't catch your name."

"Anakin Skywalker. You mind showing me your moves? I've never seen anything like it."

"You're… not from around here, are you?"

"Nope."

"Well, if you insist. Oh, fair warning," Mako smirked, sliding into a ready stance. "This might be hot…."

Anakin smiled. "I'm hotter."

* * *

Anakin saw Bolin again a month later. He was happy to announce that Mako and Korra were still going quite strong. Bolin even found a nice girl of his own, named Opal. Anakin thought they made a cute couple.


End file.
